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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



022 152 189 4 



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Hollinger Corp. 
P H 8.5 



SUGGESTED READJUSTMENT 



OF THE 



Years of Study of the Public Schools 



of New Vork City 



A MEMORANDUM ADDRESSED TO 

Those Interested in the Public Schools 



of New Vork City 



THE CITY CLUB OF NEW YORK 



OCTOBER, 19(K 



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F( >REW< >RD. 



Fo those interested in Public School Education of the 

City of New York: 

The occasion for issuing this memorandum is to 
secure opinions from the public that will aid the City 
Club in making recommendations to the Charter Revi- 
sion Commission with relation to that portion of the 
(.'barter dealing with the public schools. 

The memorandum endeavors to point out certain 
defects in the schools as now conducted and presents 
certain remedies that have been suggested — not as 
recommendations of the Club, but as a program for 
consideration by the Public. 

The Hoard of Education at present, under Section 
1084 of the Charter, has power to prescribe and regu- 
late the courses of study. This power of the Board is 
not likely to be curtailed by the Charter Revision Com- 
mission. The question of salaries, however, is so inti- 
mately interwoven with the years of teaching and 
school grades that it is difficult to consider the salary 
question (which must be reviewed) without at the 
same time considering its relation and adjustment to 
the years of study. 

The Club feels justified in presenting this tentative 
plan, since the solution of the salary problem may most 
readily come through a readjustment of the years 
of study; such a readjustment made solely for the 
purpose of solving the salary problem would not be 
warranted, but inasmuch as this change is urgently 
recommended by many of the leading educators of the 
country, it seems opportune to consider it at this time. 
Respectfully submitted, 

JACOB W. MACK, 
Chairman Committee on Schools. 
HENRY C. WRIGHT, 

Bureau Director. 



A SUGGESTED READJUSTMENT 

OF THE 

YEARS OF STUDY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 
OF NEW YORK CITY 



The system of public school education in operation 
in New York City may be described briefly as follows: 

The first eight years are devoted to elementary 
studies, each year being divided into two grades de- 
noted by iA, iB; 2A, 2B ; 3A, 3B, etc. A teacher in 
charge of a grade teaches all the subjects assigned to 
that grade. This system of grade teaching continues 
through the seventh and eighth years in the majority 
of our elementary schools. During these eight years 
the children are instructed in district school buildings, 
situated within easy reach of the homes. High school 
instruction begins with the ninth year and takes place 
in a few large buildings so located that a majority 
of the pupils are under the necessity of riding to school. 
During the four years of this course the instruction is 
on the departmental plan, i. e., a teacher teaches but 
one subject, so the pupils come in contact with as 
many teachers as they have subjects. 

Defects in the Present System. 

Some of the defects of this system may be sum- 
marized as follows: 

I. Proper provision is not made for the child who 
drops out of school at the end of the eighth year or 
earlier. 

Diagram I on page 4 shows the number of pupils 



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registered in the public schools of the city during the 
year 1906-07, grade by grade. At the right is shown 
the percentage of pupils that dropped out at the end 
of each year. It will be noted that these percentages 
rapidly increase each succeeding year until at the end 
of the eighth year, or the end of the elementary course, 
57 per cent, of the number in the eighth grade quit 
school. The large percentages continue into the high 
school, but at the end of no high school year is there 
such a thinning of the ranks as at the end of the ele- 
mentary course. The percentages as shown above are 
fairly representative of every year. 

This situation is bad from three standpoints, (a) 
that so large a percentage fail to continue on into the 
high school, (b) that no provision is made for the 
advancement of the brighter pupils, (c) that when they 
drop out they are so ill prepared. To substantiate 
this latter point let us note the course provided in the 
seventh and eighth years. In the seventh year are the 
following: English, Geography, History and Civics, 
Elementary Science, Mathematics. In addition is a 
course in drawing and construction work; for a boy 
this means a simple form of manual training involving 
the use of the knife and a few simple tools ; for a 
girl a course in sewing and cooking is provided. The 
eighth year continues the same studies somewhat more 
advanced ; the manual training, however, merely ex- 
tends the use of a few more tools necessary to make 
such articles as book shelves, paper racks, etc. ; the 
courses for the girls in sewing and cooking are some- 
what advanced over the previous year. In other 
words, the 33,000 pupils who drop out at the end of 
the seventh and eighth years have, in addition to their 
elementary training, no practical equipment for life's 
duties other than, for the girls, some cooking or sew- 



ing, and for the boys, the ability to use some simple 
wood-working tools. We give the boy who intends 
to leave school at the age of fourteen the same train- 
ing and same studies as the boy who contemplates 
passing through the high school, and these elementary 
courses are planned chiefly as a preparation for the 
higher courses. 

It is well to re-emphasize the recognized fact that 
a boy who leaves the public schools at the end of the 
elementary course, having been trained in no special 
direction, finds it difficult to secure work, to any ad- 
vantage, except as clerk or office boy. As a result, 
either he enters this, at present, overcrowded field with 
small chance for advancement, or else, finding it diffi- 
cult to secure a position, he drifts into less honest ways 
of securing a livelihood. It is scarcely open to doubt 
that our public school system would be much more ser- 
viceable if it gave a boy leaving school at the age of 
14 or 15 years a special bent, energizing him with a 
confidence in his power to do things. 

II. The second notable defect of the system is the 
constantly recurring lack of co-ordination between the 
number of sittings and the number of pupils. 

Each fall the Board of Education reports that from 
50,000 to 75,000 pupils must be accommodated by 
part time because of the lack of sittings. Neverthe- 
less, more than enough sittings are provided, taking 
the city as a whole. In 1907 there were 651,307 sit- 
tings for an average attendance of 512,718 pupils. 
Only about 10 per cent, more stationary seats than 
the average attendance are needed to accommodate 
all pupils ; over 27 per cent, additional are at present 
provided. These extra sittings, however, were not dis- 
tributed according to the needs. So long as our sys- 



tern remains inelastic it will be necessary to continue 
year by year to expend a large amount for new school 
buildings, regardless of the fact that enough sittings 
are provided with the present equipment. This dif- 
ficulty could not be completely overcome by any sys- 
tem of readjustment, since from year to year new 
sections of the city are built up where no school build- 
ings exist. These new sections, however, account for 
but a portion of the yearly demand for new buildings. 

III. Our system of having a four years High 
School course taught in a few buildings demands a 
great amount of time and car fare from many thou- 
sands of pupils. 

A committee of the High School Teachers' Asso- 
ciation reported to that body that during one school 
year in the Borough of Brooklyn the High School 
pupils paid out $103,141 for car fare. They esti- 
mated that for the whole city the first year pupils alone 
would expend for the same purpose not less than 
$119,700. 

IV. At present the pay of men and women teachers 
is not equal for the same work. "Equal-pay" is 
strongly urged by the women teachers. 

During the legislative sessions of both 1907 and 
1908 a bill was introduced making mandatory the 
equalizing of the salaries of men and women 
teachers in the City of New York. The first of the 
bills passed and was vetoed by the Governor; the sec- 
ond passed the Senate, but died in the Assembly. The 
vigor with which those bills were pushed indicates a 
very strong determination on the part of the women 
teachers to secure a readjustment of salaries. Had 
either bill become law, it would have required, accord- 





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SUGG 


B ST 1 












ROF 






PUBLIC 








Bv the: C 


ITY CL 


School 


Approximate 


Compulsory 


Educational 




Lower Upp 


Yearg 


Age of Pupils 


Education Law 


Grade 


Elementary 


High Hi- 




Under 6 




Kindergarten 






I 


6-7 




iA and B 


I 




2 


7-8 




2A and B 


2 




3 


8-9 


Mandatory 


3A and B 


3 




4 


9-10 


Mandatory 


4A and B 


4 




5 


10- 1 1 


Mandatory 


5A and B 


5 




6 


11-12 


Mandatory- 


6A and B 


6 




7 


12-13 


Mandatory 


7A and B 
(Departmental) 




I 


8 


13-14 


Mandatory 


8A and B 
(Departmental) 




2 


i 9 (a 


) 14-15 


Qualified 


Vocational 
or 


J" 


3 

or 


1 9 


14-15 


Qualified 


Secondary 


( .. 


3 



10 15-16 Qualified Secondary 



11 16-17 



Secondary 



; 



12 17-18 



Secondary 



Note: — Pupils intending to go through the Lower High School only wc 
High School would take course 9 instead of course number 9(a). 



M 



S V ST 



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■ NEW YORK CITY 
5 of New York 



Type of 








Teachers and 


Ed (nation 


Lines of Study 


Evidences of Efficiency 


Instructors 


Play-schools 


Formative-discretionary 




Women 


Elementary 


Essentials only 




Women 


Element a ry 


Essentials only 




Women 


Elementary 


Essentials 


only 




Women 


Elementary 


Essentials 


only 




Women 


Elementary 


Essentials 


plus Manual 




Women 




and Domestic Science 






Elementary 


Essentials 


plus Manual 


Certificate of Effi- 


Women 




and Domestic Science 


ciency 




\dvanced 


Essentials 


plus Trades 




Men and 




and Vocational Electives 




Women 


\dvanced 


Essentials 


plus Trades 




Men and 




and Vocational Electives 




Women 


Constructive 


Essentials 


of One Me- 


Certificate of Gradu- 


Men and 


Operative 


chanical 


Vocation 


ation, Trade 


Women 


! D rofessional 


Advanced 


Study — For- 


Certificate of Gradu- 


Men and 


Classical 


mative 




ation, Lower High 


Women 


, Scientific 










Commercial 










j 'rofessional 


Advanced 


Study— Object- 




Men and 


Classical 


ive 






Women 


Scientific 










I 'ommercial 










Professional 


Advanced 


Study — Spe- 




Men and 


Classical 


cialized 






Women 


cientific 










■ommercial 










j'rofessional 


Advanced 


Study — Spe- 


Certificate of Gradu- 


Men and 


lassical 


cialized 




ation, Upper High 


Women 


; cientific 










'ommercial 










1 ,ke course number 9(a); 
1 


those intending 


to continue through 


the Upper 



I 



ing to an estimate of the Auditor of the School Board, 
an additional annual expenditure of approximately 
$9,100,000. Unless the end is secured in some other 
way, it is probable that sooner or later a law will be 
passed requiring the equalizing of the salaries of men 
and women teachers. The cost to the city of such a 
readjustment will depend upon the ratio of the increase 
according to the grades and years of service, and upon 
the distribution of men and women in the different 
years of study. 

Suggested Improvements in the System. 

Can our system of study be wisely readjusted so 
as to minimize these four defects, viz: 

1. Ill-adjustment of studies for the child who drops 

out of school at the end of the eighth year. 

2. Lack of co-ordination between the number of 

pupils and the number of sittings. 

3. Large expenditure of time and car fare by first 

year High School pupils. 

4. Unequal salaries of men and women teachers. 

In February, 1908, Mr. J. Edward Swanstrom, for- 
merly president of the Brooklyn School Board and 
ex-Borough President, proposed for consideration a 
modification of the "six and six plan," a plan that has 
been much discussed by educators. (See Brooklyn 
Eagle, February 25, 1908, or Evening Post, February 
26, 1908.) This plan provided for six years elemen- 
tary and six years high school study, the high school 
being divided into two equal parts of three years each 
to be called junior and senior high school. The 
advantages to be gained by the plan he set forth as 
follows : 

10 



"i. It will put new life into the school system 
and render it more efficient in every department from 
the kindergarten period to the period of graduation 
from the high school. 

"2. It recognizes the principle for which the 
women teachers are struggling without unduly bur- 
dening the taxpayer. 

"3. It breaks down the present gap between ele- 
mentary and high schools, inasmuch as under our 
compulsory education laws every pupil would have 
to be taken from the elementary school and carried 
over into the lower high schools. 

"4. It saves the time and expense of attempting 
to educate each year thousands of pupils who are un- 
fitted for high school work; 

"5. It will encourage pupils who have done suc- 
cessful work in the lower high schools to try for ad- 
mission to the upper high school or college for the 
masses. 

"6. The requirement that hereafter in the sev- 
enth and eighth years teachers shall be college gradu- 
ates will not only lead to greater efficiency in our 
schools, but furnish an adequate reason for paying 
women teachers the same as men. 

"7. It will abolish part time in the high school 
and obviate the necessity of constructing additional 
high schools for several years to come." 

We desire to submit for consideration a modifica- 
tion of the plan as set forth by Mr. Swanstrom. The 
main difference is that the ninth year of study, or the 
third year of the lower high school, is made an elective 
year. The plan is as follows: diagram II, pages 8 
and 9. 

11 



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( Operation of the Plan. 

The first six elementary years would be taught as at 
present. What are now 7A, 7B, 8A and 8B grades 
and the first year of the present high school course 
would be taught in one or more buildings in each 
school district within walking distance of the homes 
of all the children of the district. Trade electives 
would be provided in the 7th and 8th years. The 
9th year would be a double course, having for pupils 
intending to continue on through the upper high 
school studies similar to those now taught in the first 
year of the high school, and, as an alternative, trade 
courses for the pupils intending to quit at the end of 
the 9th year, the end of the lower high school. The 
courses of the upper high school would be taught as 
at present in the high school buildings, the first year 
of the course corresponding with the present second 
year. 

Women only would teach in the elementary grades. 

The chief advantages of this system, as compared 
with that now in operation, would seem to be some- 
what as follows : 

Pedagogical Gains. 

(a) It would to a large degree obviate the difficul- 
ty noted in our first objection to the present system, 
i. e., it does not properly prepare the pupil who leaves 
school at or before the end of the eighth year. A 
lower high school with trades elective in the first two 
years and a third year of electives devoted chiefly to 
trades would give a pupil intending to leave school at 
that time a fair start in some one chosen trade. 

(b) Besides, there would be a tendency, no doubt, 
for a large number who now drop out at the end of the 

13 



elementary course to continue on for another year 
to get a graduation certificate and to secure a more 
competent knowledge of a practical vocational trade. 
An estimate of the increase in the number who would 
thus continue through the ninth year, is made in dia- 
gram III, page 12. It will be noted by this diagram 
that the larger number completing the lower high 
school would tend to increase the number who would 
enter and complete the upper high school. 

(c) This lower high school would also obviate to 
a certain extent the break that now occurs between 
the elementary school and the high school and would 
at the same time accustom the pupils to the depart- 
mental methods of instruction used in the high school. 

Economic Gain. 

(a) It would correct to a certain extent the lack 
of co-ordination between the number of sittings and 
the number of pupils. By taking the first year pupils 
out of the high school buildings abundant sittings 
would be provided for the pupils of the remaining 
years, and in fact it might not be necessary to build 
any new high school buildings for several years. By 
putting the seventh and eighth grades, which now have 
many vacant seats, into a separate building or lower 
high school the sittings of the remaining six grades 
would probably be so adjusted as to accommodate all 
the pupils, at least in Manhattan. In Brooklyn no 
doubt it would be necessary to construct some new 
school buildings. The average attendance of each 
school building not being published, it is impossible to 
give any accurate estimate of the relation of sittings 
to the attendance in each district. Unquestionably, 
however, the flexibility of this new system would per- 

14 



mit of more nearly adjusting the sittings already fur- 
nished by existing buildings to the needs of the pupils. 
The installation of this system would result, according 
i" an estimate made by one thoroughly conversant with 
our school needs, in a saving of from $10,000,000 to 
$20,000,000 during the next five years. 

(b) The new system having a lower high school 
in each school district would save yearly to the pupils 
now attending the first year of the high school about 
$119,000 in car fare. At 4^% interest this represents 
a capitalization of over $2,600,000, which would pro- 
vide fully 325 classrooms located where needed. A 
corresponding amount of time now occupied in the 
street car rides would be saved. 

(c) By confining men to the last six years, or ex- 
cluding them from the elementary courses, "equal pay" 
could be established at a comparatively small cost — a 
cost which the taxpayers might be quite willing to 
incur. The failure to pass of the "equal pay" bills 
was, no doubt, due largely to the additional heavy bur- 
den which they would have placed upon the city. 

Additional arguments could be brought forward 
touching upon the need of less elaborate buildings 
under this system, convenience to the pupils, greater 
efficiency in the schools, better teaching under a de- 
partmental system, with promotion by subject and 
teachers organized in faculties, etc., but space will not 
permit of their elaboration. 

The City Club will appreciate an expression of 
opinion from every person who reads this memoran- 
dum covering the following points: 
I. Do you believe the system of public education now 

in operation is in the main satisfactory? 

Please state reasons. If you believe it un- 

15 



satisfactory, please answer the following 
questions : 

2. Do you think it feasible to attempt to change the 

system at the present time, 

(a) As applied to the whole city? 

(b) Experimentally as applied to certain 

schools or certain portions of the city ? 

3. Do you regard the plan as set forth in this memo- 

randum desirable? Please give arguments 
for or against. 

4. Please state whether you are willing to have your 

opinions published. 

Later the Club will issue a memorandum contain- 
ing reports of committees of the National Education 
Association recommending a shortening of the ele- 
mentary and a lengthening of the high school course 
and also opinions on the plan presented in this 
memorandum. 



16 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



022 152 189 4 9 



Hollinger Corp. 
pH 8.5 



